Keyhole-guard.



A. KERRY.

KEYHOLE GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7, 1913.

1,101,450, Patented June 23, 1914.

W/TNESSES: INVENTOR W cjarafil r/y 6 i I By W ATTORNEY COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH (IO-,WASHINGTON, D. c.

AARON KERRY, 0F SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

KEYHOLE-GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 11 23 1914,

Application filed. June 7, 1913. Serial No. 772,244.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AARON KERRY, acitizen of the United States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of Washlngton, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Keyhole-Guards, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in key-hole guards and has for its object the provision of a simple and inexpensive device for plugging the key-hole of a. door I after the same has been locked to prevent the lock being tampered with and the door surreptitiously opened.

The invention consists in the novel construction of a device for entering a key-hole and the adaptation and combination therewith of means for securing said device from being turned or extracted after it is fixed in operative position, as will be fully described in the following specification, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and finally set forth in the appended claim.

In said drawings, Figure l is a fragmentary perspective view of a door and lock showing an embodiment of my invention in operative position in the key-hole thereof. Fig. 2 is a View showing a portion of a door in dotted outline and the key-hole guard of my invention shown partly in longitudinal section and partly in side elevation. Figs. 3 and 4 are detached perspective views of elements of the invention.

Referring to said views, the reference numeral 1 designates a door provided with a lock wherein is a bolt 2 adapted to be actuated by a key inserted through the key-way 3 extending through the door from opposite sides.

Of the key-hole guard, 4 indicates a stem of diameter adapting it to be entered within the key-hole and formed in proximity of its forward end with a tongue 5 extending in a plane that would bisect the longitudinal axis of said stem and having its inner edge 5 rectangular to said axis of the stem. At the opposite end 4 of said stem it is provided with screw threads and intermediate said threaded portion and said tongue the stem is formed with rectangular sides, as at 6. A block 7 is provided with a rectangularly shaped passage 8 extending longitudinally therethrough adapted to slidably receive said portion 6 of the stem. A lug 9 protrudes longitudinally from the inner face 10 of the block while an apertured ear 11 'of the outer face 12.

13 indicates a nut threaded to engage the threads of said stem and having its perimeter formed with a plurality of apertures 14 all in substantially the same radial distance from the axis of its threaded central opening as the aperture of car 11 from the axis of its passage 8.

The device is assembled by sliding the block 7 upon the stem 4 with the lug 9 directed toward said tongue 5 so that the lug is directed at ninety degrees or at a right angle relative to said tongue. The assemblage is completed by engaging the nut 18 with the threaded end 4 of the stem.

The operation of the guard may be described as follows: To safeguard a door from being opened from the outside during the night or when the occupant is asleep, the door is first locked by actuating the bolt 2 with the key which is then withdrawn from the keyhole. The nut 13 and block 7 are retracted toward the end P of the stem, and its opposite end upon which is the tongue 5 may then be inserted within the keyhole. Said tongue when thus inserted is in vertical alinement with the key-hole slot 3 while the lug 9 of the block is directed rectangularly thereto. When intruded to a suitable extent, or until said tongue is beneath or beyond said lock-bolt, the stem is turned a quarter-revolution which causes said tongue to be directed rectangularly of said keyhole-slot and parallel to the axis of said bolt and the lug 9 of the block 7 to be in alinement with and adapted to be entered into said keyhole slot. The block is then slipped forward, the lug 9 engaged within the lower portion of said keyhole, and its face 10 brought into close engagement with the escutcheon plate 15 of the lock. The nut 13 is then screwed up upon the face 12 of the block and retains the same in its engaged position. hen thus arranged, the guard-stem fills the key-way of the lock and prevents the introduction of a passor skeleton-key and also protects the tumblers of the look from being tampered with or picked by the various devices employed by thieves or other intruders.

The provision of the squared passage 8 of the block wherein the squared portion 6 of the stem is received, prevents all relative rotative movements of the block and stem and, by the close engagement of the lug 9 within the keyhole, the stem is guarded a ainst bein turned from the outside as C: H v 7 F by the use of nippers.

Upon occasion, 'it may be desired to doubly lock the door of a room upon the outside and to prevent the insertion, of a with the aperture of the ear 11. A small padlock, indicated in dotted lines 16 in Fig. l, is inserted in said apertures and securely locks the nut and block in their engaged and operative position.

The device may be made of small size that it may readily and conveniently be carried in the vest pocket and is especially useful in hotels and lodgings where the locks of doorsandclosets are oi doubtful safety.

\Vhil'e I have described my invention with some detail, I do not Wish to be considered as confining myself to the exact construction shown as, obviously, various changes and modifications in parts may be made Within the scope of the claim without departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing its advantages.

Having described my invention, what I claim, is-

A keyhole-guard comprising, in combination, stem formed with a tongue near one of its ends protruding in radial direction, screw-threads formed in its opposite end, and a squared portion intermediate said ends, a block having a squared passage to slidably receive said stein, said block having a lug projecting from its face in proximity to said tongue, and a laterally projecting apertured lug at its opposite end, a'nut arranged to engage the threaded end of said stem provided, with a plurality of apertures distanced from the axis of said stem to register with said aperture in the block, and means engagea'ble in said apertures to secureLsaid' nut in l ked engagemen wi h. t e bloc Signed at Seattle, Wash, this 31st day of 7 May 1913.

, AARON KERRY.

WVitnesses:

Honaon BARNES, E. PETERSON.

Copies of this patent, may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the. (lommissioner of Batents,

Washington, D. G. 

